I like where this thread is going with some fun posts. I might just subscribe to one like this to be sure to notice updates – I do that with the Death Pool even though I don’t have a list at stake there – but in this case I kill two birds with one stone by just posting.
Once I have moused over the thread title (maybe 1 in 10) and seen what looks intriguing about the part of the OP I can see there I will go ahead and click on it. If the OP seems fresh or well thought out I will look at responses. And as has been said well above, if I think I can contribute I will post. This may not be so much a contribution as an acknowledgment that I think this thread has potential and I will be reading other replies.
I do this all the time. I’d say my ratio of scrapped posts to posted posts is something like 6:1. In fact, I’d been meaning to start a thread asking if other people did it, but I scrapped that one too!
The purpose of this board is to fight ignorance not spread it, so if I’m ignorant about a thread topic I will read the thread to, but there is no point in my posting if I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Gah, could you imagine what the threads would be like if everyone who read a thread felt the need to post in it even if they had nothing useful to add? I’m much more likely to feel guilty about actually posting for fear that my post will clutter up the thread.
I only respond when I really have something to say - either an answer to a question, a question I would like answered, or an anecdote to pile on. Maybe that’s why I’ve been here for eleven years without a pit thread to my name.
A quick scan of a current “new posts” list shows that the “replies” count for most threads is in the range of 1-5% of “views.” Seems like reading but not responding is hardly a rarity …
As others have noted, it’s quite frequent to read the OP and/or other posts and have the perfect response ready to post, only to read further and see that someone else has already posted the same.
It stands to reason, of course. The most perfect responses are quite likely also quite obvious; but in any case, anythings that’s well known and obvious to one SDMB poster is almost certainly known and obvious to other SDMB posters, intelligent educated well-read lot that we are! GMTA!
I never feel bad about reading and not responding.
To the OP: what would you see as the basis for feeling bad under those circumstances? Do you feel it’s as if someone has addressed you directly and you’ve ignored them? Or is it like going in a store and not buying something?
